I’ve said before there are some things that should stay in the ‘only in America file’.

Today I’m writing from Washington DC where I’ve had the privilege of meeting with people focussed on preserving religious freedom – something ironically under threat in the ‘land of the free’.

[caption id="attachment_34103" align="alignleft" width="300"] Members of the House Armed Services Committee listening to Christian and Jewish leaders expressing concerns about the suppression of religion in the US military.[/caption]

I’ve just come from the Rayburn Building on Capitol Hill, across the road from the Congress, where three Christians and a Jewish Rabi were making the case for religious freedom in the US military.

The white Acropolis-styled Rayburn Building is where many Congressmen and Congresswomen have their offices. Its cavernous hallways also lead to imposing committee hearing rooms with tiered seating to elevate the elected people.

The House Armed Services Committee convened today’s hearing to hear from the religious leaders about the growing instances of intimidation and suppression of faith in the US military.

The Family Research Council’s Director of its Centre for Religious Liberty, Travis Weber, a lawyer and a former US Navy test pilot, told the committee Bibles were removed from navy lodges because of fears they were causing offence.

[caption id="attachment_34105" align="alignright" width="300"] Retired US Army Colonel Ron Crews testifies today about double standards which forced a Christian article off an airforce website but kept an atheist's article on line.[/caption]

He said an air force cadet had been singled out and targeted for expressing his Christianity on a white board.

I later learned he had written a scripture verse.

I wonder if an obscenity scrawled on a unit white board would have caused such a fuss?